6/9. The Guardian published an opinion piece by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) titled "The abuse of the Patriot Act must end".

"The administration claims authority to sift through details of our private lives because the Patriot Act says that it can. I disagree. I authored the Patriot Act, and this is an abuse of that law", wrote Rep. Sensenbrenner.

He continued that "In his press conference on Friday, President Obama described the massive collection of phone and digital records as ``two programs that were originally authorized by Congress, have been repeatedly authorized by Congress´´. But Congress has never specifically authorized these programs, and the Patriot Act was never intended to allow the daily spying the Obama administration is conducting."

See, transcript of the June 7 news conference, and story titled "Obama Defends Secret Government Surveillance Programs" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,573, June 8, 2013.

Rep. Sensenbrenner (at right) is now the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. However, he was the Chairman of the full Committee during the 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses. That is, he became Chairman in January of 2001, nine months before the HJC began work on the USA PATRIOT Act.

That Act was HR 3162 in the 107th Congress. President Bush signed it on October 26, 2001. It is Public Law 107-56. Title II contains the provisions related to surveillance involving information and communications technologies. Section 215, which is the authority for the National Security Agency's (NSA) just disclosed phone records program, was enacted by the USA PATRIOT Act.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which is the authority for the just disclosed NSA surveillance program that is associated with the NSA's PRISM system, was not enacted by the USA PATRIOT Act. It was enacted in the 110th Congress by HR 6304 [LOC | WW], is the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008", also sometimes referred to as the "FAA", Public Law No. 110-261. Section 702 was enacted when Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) was Chairman, and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) was the ranking Republican. However, Rep. Sensenbrenner's piece focuses on the Section 215 program.

Rep. Sensenbrenner elaborated regarding the Section 215 order of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) that directs Verizon to produce the phone call records of its customers on a daily basis. He wrote that "To obtain a business records order like the one the administration obtained, the Patriot Act requires the government to prove to a special federal court, known as a Fisa court, that it is complying with specific guidelines set by the attorney general and that the information sought is relevant to an authorized investigation. Intentionally targeting US citizens is prohibited."

"Technically, the administration's actions were lawful insofar as they were done pursuant to an order from the Fisa court. But based on the scope of the released order, both the administration and the Fisa court are relying on an unbounded interpretation of the act that Congress never intended."

"How can every call that every American makes or receives be relevant to a specific investigation?", Rep. Sensenbrenner asked.

He concluded that "Our liberties are secure only so long as we are prepared to defend them. I and many other members of Congress intend to take immediate action to ensure that such abuses are not repeated."

Other Republican Representatives have defended the NSA's secret surveillance programs. See for example, Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) statement.

6/8. The Guardian published a story titled "Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations" that disclosed that the source for its recent disclosures about secret government surveillance programs is Edward Snowden, an IT worker, formerly employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and now employed by National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Booz Allen & Hamilton.

The story, by Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras, also embeds a 12 minute video interview of Snowden.

Snowden stated to The Guardian that NSA surveillance is a "threat to democracy", and that "they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them".

"The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to", said Snowden. "I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity".

He also said that he "watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in".

Booz Allen stated in a release that "Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter."

6/6. The White House news office announced that President Obama advocates expanding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) waste, fraud and abuse plagued e-rate tax and subsidy program. See, release and release.

The FCC's e-rate program bears a slight resemblance to a program described at 47 U.S.C. § 254, which was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Subsection 254(h) provides for telecommunications carriers to subsidize telecommunications services at elementary and secondary schools, libraries, and health clinics. As implemented by the FCC in 1997 and 1998, subsidies were provided for telephone service, internet access, and internal connections. However, the FCC has further expanded the program in several respects, most notably to subsidize broadband internet access service, and to use e-rate subsidized school facilities to provide internet access to persons not associated with the schools.

The two releases state that President Obama urges the FCC to take action, without passage of implementing legislation.

President Obama also gave a speech in Mooresville, North Carolina on June 6 in which he stated that "I am directing the Federal Communications Commission ...". (The FCC is not an executive department whose officers serve at the pleasure of the President. It is an independent commission.)

The two releases urge the FCC to further expand its e-rate subsidies to provide broadband connections to schools "at speeds no less than 100Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps", and to provide "high-speed wireless within" schools.

The two releases also urge subsidization of teacher "training in using education technology tools to improve student learning", with funds appropriated to the Department of Education (DOE) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. See also, DOE release.

These releases use the term "ConnectED" as a name for this proposal.

FCC Chairman Mignon Clyburn stated in a release that "I applaud the President for his bold vision. I look forward to working with my fellow Commissioners and the many stakeholders as we answer the President’s call to modernize this vital program."

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel stated in a release that "It is time to answer the President’s call to upgrade the E-Rate program for the 21st Century. It is time for E-Rate 2.0. We need to protect what we have done, build on it, and put it on a course to provide higher speeds and greater opportunities in the days ahead. This initiative is an exciting effort that has my wholehearted and enthusiastic support."

Randall Stephenson, Ch/CEO of AT&T, stated in a release that "We're excited about the President's proposals." But, he also said that "the USF contribution methodology must be updated to encompass more than the legacy services assessed today as we transition to the all-IP communications networks of tomorrow.  In addition, the very cumbersome rules surrounding the current e-Rate program simply must be streamlined and made more efficient."

6/6. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [33 pages in PDF] titled "College Textbooks: Students Have Greater Access to Textbook Information". The GAO did not conduct a thorough study of the availability and prices of college textbooks in ebook format, or textbooks generally. However, this study contains some pertinent findings.

This report finds that in the past decade publishers' prices for college textbooks have risen much faster than the consumer price index, but slower that college tuition and fees. Also, the ebooks provide students a cheaper alternative to printed books.

The report states that "Publishers produce a variety of products and services for faculty to choose from in selecting course materials. In addition to traditional textbooks, faculty can work with publishers to create customized course materials by adding or deleting information from a single textbook or multiple sources. Faculty may also select supplemental materials, such as workbooks, lab activities, and study guides. Supplemental materials and textbooks may be sold together in one package, referred to as a bundle, and may also be available for sale separately. In addition to print versions, course materials are often available as digital products that can be accessed on computers or e-readers. Publishers have also developed online interactive systems that integrate multimedia instructional material with supplemental materials like homework or personalized quizzes and tutorials."

Also, "Students may lower their costs by purchasing used or digital textbooks, renting materials, or taking advantage of other affordable options. However, the price of new, print books often drives the prices of other items. Specifically, as we reported in 2005, used textbook prices are directly linked to new textbook prices in that retailers typically offer used books for about 75 percent of the new, print price. Similarly, digital textbooks and textbook rentals are generally offered at a discount based on the new, print price. Thus, while students may be able to find lower-priced options, increasing prices for new, print books will likely lead to similar price increases for other related course materials."

It adds that "One campus bookstore reported that its students saved more than $150 per semester, on average, after it introduced textbook rental and digital book programs."

The GAO prepared this report for the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

6/6. The Department of the Treasury's (DOT) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, published a notice in the Federal Register (FR), that announces, describes, recites, and sets the comment deadline for, proposed changes to its rules that impose "Special measures against Liberty Reserve".

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is criminally prosecuting Liberty Reserve and several individuals with conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371) to commit money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1956) and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business (18 U.S.C. §§ 1960 and 1962) in connection with their operation of a digital currency, a payment processor, and money transfer system. See, story titled "Indictment Returned and Domains Seized in Liberty Reserve Digital Currency Matter" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,569, June 3, 2013.

The deadline to submit comments is August 5, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 109, June 6, 2013, at Pages 34008-34013. The FinCEN also published a second notice in the FR that announces, describes and sets the effective date for, its finding that Liberty Reserve is a financial institution operating outside the U.S. that is of primary money laundering concern. The effective date was May 28, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 109, June 6, 2013, at Pages 34169-34173.

6/7. President Obama nominated Jeffrey Meyer to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. He is a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. See, White House news office release and release.

6/7. President Obama nominated Timothy Brooks to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. He has worked, since law school, at the law firm of Taylor Law Partners in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  See, White House news office release and release.

6/6. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it approved by voice vote the nominations of Patricia Smith and Elaine Kaplan to be Judges of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

6/6. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over consideration of the nomination of Valerie Caproni (former FBI General Counsel) to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Her nomination is again on the SJC's agenda for Thursday, June 13, 2013. See also, story titled "Obama Nominates Caproni to District Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,474, November 19, 2012.

6/6. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over consideration of the nomination of Vernon Broderick to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. His nomination is again on the SJC's agenda for Thursday, June 13, 2013.

6/7. Sprint announced in a release that Mike Mullen (at right) "will join the company’s board of directors as an independent director upon the closing of Sprint’s transaction with SoftBank". He will also be "Security Director", and "oversee Sprint’s compliance with the company's National Security Agreement with the U.S. government and serve as the U.S. government’s contact for all security-related matters". Mullen is a retired Navy officer. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011.

6/6. Chris Christie, Governor of the state of New Jersey, appointed Jeff Chiesa to fill the Senate seat of the late Frank Lautenberg, who died on June 3, 2013. Chiesa, a Republican, was the New Jersey Attorney General. This is an interim appointment. There will be a special election to fill this seat on October 16, 2013. Chiesa will not seek election at that time.

6/6. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over consideration of the nomination of Tony West (at left) to be the Associate Attorney General. His nomination is again on the SJC's agenda for Thursday, June 13, 2013. See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on West" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,568, May 31, 2013.

6/6. Brian Fitzgerald was named Deputy Technology Editor at the Wall Street Journal.

6/5. President Obama named Susan Rice to be his National Security Advisor. She is currently U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stated in a release that "The nomination of Samantha Power is deeply troubling. No nation has spilled more blood or sacrificed more for the freedom of others than ours, and yet Ms. Power has publicly embraced the need for America to continue apologizing to the world for perceived transgressions".

6/5. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Howard Husock to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. See, White House news office release.

6/5. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Steve Bennett (P/CEO of Symantec) and Angel Ruiz (Ericsson) to be members of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. See, White House news office release.

6/5. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Robert Wolf to be a member of the President’s Export Council. See, White House news office release.

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The House will meet at 3:00 PM in pro forma session. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. The schedule includes resumption of consideration of the motion to proceed to S 744 [LOC | WW], the immigration bill.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

? TIME? The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold an executive business meeting at which it will consider the nomination of Penny Pritzker to be Secretary of Commerce. See, story titled "President Obama Picks Democratic Fund Raiser for Secretary of Commerce" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,557, May 6, 2013. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "May In-House Counsel Antitrust Update". The speakers will be Anita Banicevic (Davies Ward), and Andrea Murino, Mark Rosman, Michael Rosenthal, and Daniel Wieck (all of Wilson, Sonsini). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding its proposed rules regarding verification of statements of account submitted by cable
operators and satellite carriers. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 90, May 9, 2013, at Pages 27137-27153.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [47 pages in PDF] regarding implementation of the 2012 spectrum act's provisions regarding deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band under a nationwide license issued to the FirstNet. See, HR 3630 [LOC | WW], the "Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012", Public Law No. 112-96. The FCC adopted this item on March 7, 2013, and released the text on March 8. It is FCC 13-31 in PS Docket Nos. 12-94 and 06-229, and WT Docket No. 06-150. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Pages 24138-24147.

The House will meet at 12:00 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. The House will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 98, May 21, 2013, at Pages 29704-29705. Location: NIST, Portrait Room, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24241. Location: USDA Conference and Training Center, Patriots Plaza III, 355 E St., SW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day event hosted by Georgetown University's (GU) Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) titled "Workshop on the Economics of Information Security". See, notice. Location: GU, Hariri Building, McDonough School of Business.

8:30 - 10:00 AM. The Microsoft and Georgetown University will host an event titled "Privacy in a Digital World". The speakers will be Julie Brill (FTC Commissioner), Marc Rotenberg (EPIC), and Jules Polenetsky (Future of Privacy Forum). See, notice. Location: Washington Post, 1150 15th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The agenda includes discussion of the Strategic Plan of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), which provides data for, among other things, Google Maps and Microsoft Bing maps. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30328. Location: South Interior Building Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 102, May 28, 2013, Page 31884. Location: DOC, Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:00 AM - 2:30 PM. The Federalist Society will host an event titled "Executive Branch Review Conference". This event will include numerous panels, including ones titled "Is Government a Friend or Foe of Innovation", "Is the Administrative State on the Rise?", and "Regulation and the Rule of Law". Lunch will be served. Free. The price for CLE credits is $50. See, notice and registration page. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

RESCHEDULED FROM JUNE 4. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on nominations, including that of Stuart Delery to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Division. Delery has been acting AAG since February of 2012. The SJC will provide a live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will hold a hearing in its proceeding titled "U.S. Trans Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement Including Japan: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Imports". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 94, May 15, 2013, at Pages 28623-28625. Location: USITC, 500 E St., SW.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT) will hold a hearing titled "The Satellite Television Law: Repeal, Reauthorize, or Revise". See notice. The witnesses will be __. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM JUNE 5. 10:30 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing titled "Reducing Duplication and Improving Outcomes in Federal Information Technology". The witnesses will be Steven VanRoekel (Office of Management and Budget), Simon Szykman (Department of Commerce), Frank Baitman (Department of Health and Human Services), and David Powner (Government Accountability Office). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:15 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now". The speakers will be Douglas Rushkoff (author), Christine Rosen (NAF) and Marvin Ammori (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold another in its series of meetings regarding mobile application transparency. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 62, April 1, 2013, at Pages 19461-19462. Location: American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave., NW.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast seminar to present a report titled "Independent Telco Benchmark Report". The speaker will be Tim Owens of Cronin Communications. The price for a copy of the report and access to this seminar is $395. See, notice.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed hearing on undisclosed matters. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

4:00 - 5:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Story of WPFW and A Crisis in Grassroots Media". The speakers will be Askia Muhammad (WPFW), Jean Yves Point du Jour (WPFW) and Mark Lloyd (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

5:00 - 6:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "A Crisis in Grassroots Media: Local Outlets and Global Content". The speakers will be Catherine Komp and Alice Ollstein (both of Free Speech Radio News) and Mark Lloyd (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to oppositions to the Western Telecommunications Alliance's, Eastern Rural Telecom Association's, and National Exchange Carrier Association's April 18, 2013 petition for reconsideration [36 pages in PDF] of the FCC's Sixth Order on Reconsideration and Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding the Connect America Fund and high cost universal service subsidies. The FCC adopted that item on January 31, and released it on February 27. It is FCC 13-16 in WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 05-337. See also, FCC Public Notice regarding deadlines, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 96, May 17, 2013, at Pages 29097-29098.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to oppositions to the US Telecom Association's April 4, 2013 petition for reconsideration and clarification [34 pages in PDF] of the FCC's 2011 USF/ICC Transformation Order regarding the reporting requirements to which eligible telecommunications carriers (ETC) are expected to adhere. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 96, May 17, 2013, at Page 29097.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding rural call completion. This PN is DA 13-780 in WC Docket No. 13-39. The FCC released it on April 18, 2013. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 88, May 7, 2013, at Pages 26572-26573. See also, FCC's May 22 Public Notice (DA 13-1196) extending the reply comment deadline.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24241. Location: USDA Conference and Training Center, Patriots Plaza III, 355 E St., SW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day event hosted by Georgetown University's (GU) Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) titled "Workshop on the Economics of Information Security". See, notice. Location: GU, Hariri Building, McDonough School of Business.

8:30 - 11:45 AM Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 98, May 21, 2013, at Pages 29704-29705. Location: NIST, Portrait Room, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The agenda includes discussion of the Strategic Plan of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), which provides data for, among other things, Google Maps and Microsoft Bing maps. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30328. Location: South Interior Building Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will meet to mark up the FY 2014 defense appropriations bill. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Howard Shelanski to be Administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. See, notice, and story titled "Obama Picks Shelanski for OMB Post" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,557, May 6, 2013. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The DC Bar Association's Media Law Committee will host a closed brown bag lunch meeting to discuss media and communications law developments. Free. No CLE credits. Reporters are barred from covering this event. For more information, contact the DC Bar at 202-626-3463 or Kurt Wimmer (Covington & Burling) at kwimmer at cov dot com or Jim McLaughlin at mclaughlinj at washpost dot com. See, notice. Location: Washington Post, 1150 15th St., NW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Preparing for and Responding to the Enduring Threat". The witnesses will be General Keith Alexander (Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency, and Chief of the Central Security Service), Rand Beers (acting Deputy Secretary, DHS), Patrick Gallagher (Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology), and Richard McFeely (FBI). See, notice. Location: Room G-50, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) objections to AT&T's April 17, 2013 application to discontinue certain domestic telecommunications services that utilize obsolete technologies. See, Public Notice [3 pages in PDF], DA 13-1083 in WC Docket No. 13-126.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

Supreme Court conference day. See, Supreme Court calendar.

RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 27. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "Is Technology Responsible for American Job Loss?".

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of Tony West (to be the Associate Attorney General) and four judicial nominees: Valerie Caproni (USDC/SDNY), and Vernon Broderick (USDC/SDNY), See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on West" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,568, May 31, 2013, and story titled "Obama Nominates Caproni to District Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,474, November 19, 2012. Live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council (TAC) will meet. Tom Wheeler is the Chairman of the TAC. See, story titled "Obama to Nominate Tom Wheeler to Be FCC Chairman" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,556, May 1, 2013. See also, FCC's Public Notice, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 106, June 3, 2013, at Page 33092. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Cyber Security for the Overseas Attorney: Understanding and Mitigating the Risk to Client Information When Traveling Abroad". The speakers will be David Manning (Applied Security, Inc.), Keith Riggins (Pamir Consulting), Allen Vaughn (Applied Security, Inc.), and Chandran Iyer (Sughrue Mion). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 3:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Cloud Computing Transactions Workshop: A Systems Approach to Avoiding Thunderstorms". The speakers will be Henry Classen (Computer Sciences Corporation) and Philip Porter (Hogan Lovells). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed hearing on undisclosed matters. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) regarding the 45 day public trial of Google's TV bands database system that was completed on April 17, 2013. See, FCC's May 29, 2013 Public Notice, DA 13-1220 in ET Docket No. 04-186.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) regarding the 45 day public trial of Keybridge's TV bands database system that was completed on April 24, 2013. See, FCC's May 29, 2013 Public Notice, DA 13-1222 in ET Docket No. 04-186.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Georgetown University's Georgetown Center for Business & Public Policy (GCBPP) will host an event titled "Optimal Coevolution of Mobile Broadband Technology and Spectrum Policy". See, notice and registration page. Location: McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's (BOC) Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30269. Location: BOC Conference Center, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD.

10:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) will meet to discuss ensuring access to 911 by individuals with disabilities. See, FCC Public Notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Patent Pools". The speakers will be Amanda Reeves (Latham & Watkins), Patrick Kuhlmann (DOJ Antitrust Division), Jeffrey Blumenfeld (Crowell & Moring), and Bob Levinson (Charles River Associates). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Latham & Watkins, Suite 1000, 555 11th St., NW.

4:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's (BC) Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee Meeting will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30269. Location: BC Conference Center, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD.

Deadline to submit Expressions of Interest to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) regarding serving on the Board of Directors of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 106, June 3, 2013, at Pages 33072-33073.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) requesting comments that supplement the record regarding the 600 MHz wireless band plan. This PN is DA 13-1157 in GN Docket No. 12-268. See, statement of Commissioner Ajit Pai explaining that this PN has "substantive and procedural infirmities that I fear will lead the incentive auction rulemaking astray". See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 101, May 24, 2013, at Pages 31472-31475.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Section 214 application [18 pages in PDF] of MCI Communications Services, Inc. dba Verizon Business Services to discontinue MCI 900 Service. See also, FCC's Public Notice. This proceeding is WC Docket No. 13-139.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "A day with the French Data Protection Authority, the CNIL". The speakers will be Florence Raynal (head of the Commission Nationale de L'informatique et des Libertés' Department of European and International Affairs) and Marie-Andrée Weiss. Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

12:00 NOON. The Tech Freedom and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will host a panel discussion titled "What Should Congress Do about Cell Phone Unlocking?" The speakers will be __. See, notice. Location: Methodist Building, 101 Maryland Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property and Video Programming and Distribution Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "Copyright, Technology, and Media Litigation: A Mid-Year Review". Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [55 pages in PDF] regarding equipment authorization processes. The FCC adopted this NPRM on February 12, 2013, and released the text on February 15, 2013. It is FCC 13-19 in ET Docket No. 13-44. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 86, May 3, 2013, at Pages 25916-25938.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) requesting input and data on mobile wireless competition to assist the FCC in preparing a report titled "Seventeenth Annual Report on the State of Competition in Mobile Wireless". This PN is DA 13-1139 in WT Docket No. 13-135.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) in response to its May 16 Public Notice (PN) regarding promoting the availability of voice and broadband capable networks in rural areas served by rate of return carriers. This PN is DA 13-1112 in WC Docket No. 10-90. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 109, June 6, 2013, at Pages 34016-34020.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its proceeding titled "U.S. Trans Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement Including Japan: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Imports". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 94, May 15, 2013, at Pages 28623-28625.